Markets & Finance

Craig Hunter, former general manager and founder of the thin-film solar business at Applied Materials, Inc. has joined Intermolecular, Inc. as vice president and general manager of solar business.

A 16-year veteran of the renewable energy industry, Jean M. Wilson has joined the SunPower team as Vice President and General Manager of the company’s utilities and power plants. This new role will include running SunPower's North American utility and power plant division, supervision of all project development and overseeing utility and Independent Power Producer partnerships, as well as marketing, EPC and component sales.

HelioVolt has made changes to its executive management team and is searching for a permanent CEO. Board member Ron Bernal has been appointed as interim CEO and Sanjeev Kumar, the former chief financial officer of Energy Conversion Devices, has joined the Austin-based thin-film PV company as CFO; founder B.J. "Billy" Stanbery will continue to play a key role as chief strategy officer and chairman of the board.

Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc., which markets solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies, have appointed David W. Fann as CEO and Gregory N. Bakemann as President, who will also continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer.

Yingli Green Energy, a photovoltaic product manufacturer, has appointed Dr. Dengyuan Song as Chief Technology Officer, replacing Dr. Guoxiao Yao, who resigned to pursue other interests. Dr. Song will lead Yingli Green Energy’s research and development initiatives.

pvXchange has announced that Electrical Engingeer Martin Mesmer will be overseeing operations and sales as Sales Director for the North American PV-Market. Mr. Mesmer will be based in Oregon and California where he will be charged to develop the US business as one of the company’s core markets over the next few years.

Evergreen Solar, Inc. has appointed Chinua Ejeka to the role of Applications and Field Support Engineer for Europe. The appointment is an indicator of the company’s expansion efforts within Germany and Europe as a whole. Mr. Ejeka’s main responsibility in this role will be serving as Evergreen Solar's senior technical customer support representative for the company’s product and system performance throughout Europe.

Entech Solar has announced its decision to promote the recent addition to its executive team, Sean Rooney, to the role of COO. Mr. Rooney joined the company in February 2008 as Vice President of the Company’s EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) Operations, and his appointment marks the second senior executive appointment in a few days, with Kent Van Houten’s appointment to the CFO role announced last week.

Tigo Energy has announced that Professor Takashi Tomita, Mr. Yair Cohen and Dr. Nathan Zommer will join the company’s board of advisors.

Entech Solar has appointed Kent J. Van Houten as Chief Financial Officer, where he will manage the company’s financial strategy, corporate planning, treasury functions, internal controls, and SEC reporting.